Occupy the Trees

According to information from Occupy Eugene and Cascadia Forest Defenders:

Occupy Eugene and Cascadia Forest Defenders have put a call-out to activists around the world to "Occupy the Trees" in protest of the destruction of our Earth for the week of April 22-27. Occupy the Trees is a worldwide environmental protest against corporate and personal greed.

Our call to action includes 3 main points:

1. Immediate attention and reversal to global climate change which threatens all life on Earth.

2. Disruption of the Earth-destroying profit machines led by the richest 1% of the world and their government lackeys.

3. Ending commercial extraction from publicly held conservation lands in all nations.

A treesit has gone up in the controversial Goose Timber Sale, according to Cascadia Forest Defenders who say in a press release:

On Sunday April 22, in celebration of “Earth Defense Day” and in solidarity with Occupy the Trees, Cascadia Forest Defenders installed a tree sit in the Goose Project timber sale known as “Golden.”

We are occupying the Golden Goose in advance of the scheduled auction on Tuesday April 24th to draw attention to the Forest Service’s lack of transparency and reckless commitment to timber quotas. In response to a large community outcry, we are calling for the immediate withdrawal of the proposed sale and a moratorium on all logging operations on public forest in the McKenzie Bridge.

To participate in the “Timber Auction Protest” meet at the Grower’s Market at 9:30 am on Tuesday April 24to carpool or head directly to the US Forest Service Supervisor’s Office (3106 Pierce Parkway Suite D, Springfield, OR) by 10am

For more information, go to www.occupythetrees.org and for updates on the McKenzie treesit go to forestdefensenow.com

About the Author

Camilla Mortensen is associate editor and reporter at Eugene Weekly. She is also a folklorist and a community college and university instructor. She has two horses, an assortment of dogs, and lives in a 1975 Airstream trailer. Sometimes all these details collide in unforeseen ways.